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55g Barrel

3K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  willow 
#1 ·
I know it's not a large as the kiddy pools but I don't have a ton of space out side to work with so thinking I could use 1 or 2 55g barrels to use as live bearer breed out tanks.


The surface area is only 380" so not much more than a 20g long tank the volume of water is much higher. I could put them beside the house out of the sun so they temp shouldn't swing as much.

Any one tried this? Or would I just be wasting my time and endangering the fish?
 
#2 ·
That is an interesting idea. If anyone knows if that would work, that would be excellent. I could set up a pair of those on my patio for breeding feeder guppies and ghost shrimp. I could probably even keep them in a closet... All I would need is a couple canister filters and a couple heaters, maybe an airstone apiece, but I could run both off a single pump.

Thinking about it, I believe the main issue you would have would be the surface area, requiring much more aeration than you would in a kiddie pool.
 
#3 ·
Drop a large sponge filter in the barrel and you should have all the filtering done and the surface aeration. But adding another air stone wouldn't be a issue.

I have a plastic barrel with the top removed that would work great, but you could cut the barrel in half(length wise so you have two half circles) that would give you a huge amount of surface area. You would have to build a stand to hold it because it won't stay up right.
 
#4 ·
You don't think I would need a canister? I guess I just try to make things too complicated.
 
#5 ·
I have sponges running on all my tanks, I'm seeding two sponges for my 125g right now. I will have a HOB also but that's because I want extra mechanical and current on that big of a tank. My wife is wanting a goldfish pond this spring and I will add a sponge for extra bio filtering.

A nice large filter like this one is all you would need. http://www.amazon.com/Bacto-surge-F...428353431&sr=8-4&keywords=large+sponge+filter

A lot of people think the sponge filter isn't as good but you need surface area for the bacteria to grow and sponges have tons of that. I think they are one of the best filters in the hobby and for the price they are the best.
 
#6 ·
I do like the sponge filters. I had to shut mine off in my 150 though, I was aerating the water too much, and that was causing the plants to suffer. They seem to be recovering now.
 
#8 ·
Thinking about it I put my endlers in there. I will need to get a few more females but they would do well in an 55g barrel if I can keep it filtered enough.
 
#9 ·
I'm going to pick up a few of these. While not a many gallons as a barrel it does have the same surface area and that's what is important.
Shop Style Selections 20-Gallon Tote at Lowes.com

I need to get my filters seeded next week so I can start the tanks the first of the month.
 
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